Slur
Words that target identity groups. Slurs carry the heaviest social penalties of any category of taboo language in contemporary English. Many have undergone or are undergoing reclamation efforts by the communities they target, a process that complicates simple classification.
22 entries
Chink
/tʃɪŋk/
The slur is generally understood to derive from China, with the addition of the common English diminutive or clipping su...
Cracker
/ˈkɹæk.əɹ/
The origin is disputed. The most widely cited derivation traces the term to the Elizabethan English verb 'crack,' meanin...
Cripple
/ˈkrɪpəl/
From Old English crypel ('one who creeps, a crippled person'), related to Old English crēopan ('to creep') and cognate w...
Dago
/ˈdeɪ.ɡoʊ/
Derived from Diego, the common Spanish given name (itself from Latin Didacus, possibly from Greek didakhē, 'teaching'). ...
Dyke
/daɪk/
The etymological origin of this term remains uncertain and is the subject of ongoing scholarly debate. One theory derive...
Faggot
/ˈfæɡət/
From Old French fagot ('bundle of sticks'), possibly from Italian fagotto, of uncertain ultimate origin. Some scholars h...
Gook
/ɡuːk/
The etymology of this term is among the most disputed of any English-language slur, with multiple competing theories and...
Honky
/ˈhɒŋ.ki/
The origin is contested. The most frequently cited derivation traces the term to 'hunky,' a late 19th-century slur direc...
Kike
/kaɪk/
The origin of this term is actively disputed among etymologists. One prominent theory traces it to the Yiddish diminutiv...
Nigger
/ˈnɪɡər/
Derived from Spanish negro and Portuguese negro ('black'), themselves from Latin niger ('black, dark, swarthy'). The wor...
Peckerwood
/ˈpɛk.ər.wʊd/
An inversion of 'woodpecker,' with the transposition of the compound elements serving as a marker of African American ve...
Queer
/kwɪr/
From German quer ('oblique, cross, at right angles'), entering Scots English in the early sixteenth century with the sen...
Redneck
/ˈrɛd.nɛk/
A compound of 'red' and 'neck,' referring to the sunburned necks of outdoor laborers, particularly agricultural workers ...
Retard
/rɪˈtɑːrd/ (noun), /rɪˈtɑːrd/ (verb)
From Latin retardare ('to make slow, to delay, to hinder'), composed of re- ('back') and tardare ('to slow'), from tardu...
Slag
/slæɡ/
From Middle Low German slagge, meaning 'waste matter from metal smelting,' cognate with Middle High German slacke and re...
Slut
/slʌt/
From Middle English 'slutte,' first attested in the late 14th century with the meaning of an untidy or slovenly woman. T...
Spade
/speɪd/
The racial slur derives not from the Old English spadu ('digging tool'), but from the suit in playing cards, which enter...
Spic
/spɪk/
The etymology is contested, with several competing theories and no scholarly consensus. The most widely cited derivation...
Tranny
/ˈtræni/
A clipped form derived from 'transsexual' or 'transvestite,' both of which entered English from medical and psychiatric ...
Wetback
/ˈwɛt.bæk/
A compound of wet and back, referring literally to the physical condition of a person who has crossed the Rio Grande by ...
Whore
/hɔːr/
From Old English hōre ('prostitute, adulteress'), from Proto-Germanic *hōrōn, from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂- ('to desir...
Wop
/wɒp/
The origin has been the subject of persistent popular misconception. The widely circulated claim that 'wop' is an acrony...